Placental pathology in cancer during pregnancy and after cancer treatment exposure

Cancer during pregnancy has been associated with (pathologically) small for gestational age offspring, especially after exposure to chemotherapy in utero. These infants are most likely growth restricted, but sonographic results are often lacking. In view of the paucity of data on underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, the objective was to summarize all studies investigating placental pathology related to cancer(treatment). A systematic search in PubMed/Medline, Embase (OVID) and SCOPUS was conducted to retrieve all studies about placental pathology in cancer during pregnancy or after cancer treatment, published until August 2020. The literature search yielded 5784 unique publications, of which 111 were eligible for inclusion. Among them, three groups of placental pathology were distinguished. First, various histopathologic changes including maternal vascular malperfusion have been reported in pregnancies complicated by cancer and after cancer treatment exposure, which were not specific to type of cancer(treatment). Second, cancer(treatment) has been associated with placental cellular pathology including increased oxidative damage and apoptosis, impaired angiogenesis and genotoxicity. Finally, involvement of the placenta by cancer cells has been described, involving both the intervillous space and rarely villous invasion, with such fetuses are at risk of having metastases. In conclusion, growth restriction is often observed in pregnancies complicated by cancer and its cause can be multifactorial. Placental histopathologic changes, cellular pathology and genotoxicity caused by the cancer(treatment) may each play a role

Stillbirths: recall to action in high-income countries.

Variation in stillbirth rates across high-income countries and large equity gaps within high-income countries persist. If all high-income countries achieved stillbirth rates equal to the best performing countries, 19,439 late gestation (28 weeks or more) stillbirths could have been avoided in 2015. The proportion of unexplained stillbirths is high and can be addressed through improvements in data collection, investigation, and classification, and with a better understanding of causal pathways. Substandard care contributes to 20-30% of all stillbirths and the contribution is even higher for late gestation intrapartum stillbirths. National perinatal mortality audit programmes need to be implemented in all high-income countries. The need to reduce stigma and fatalism related to stillbirth and to improve bereavement care are also clear, persisting priorities for action. In high-income countries, a woman living under adverse socioeconomic circumstances has twice the risk of having a stillborn child when compared to her more advantaged counterparts. Programmes at community and country level need to improve health in disadvantaged families to address these inequities.Mater Research Institute – The University of Queensland provided infrastructure and funding for the research team to enable this work to be undertaken. The Canadian Research Chair in Psychosocial Family Health provided funding for revision of the translation of the French web-based survey of care providers.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01020-

Falling neonatal autopsy rates : Neonatologists, pathologists, and relatives need to boost neonatal pathology

T Yee Khon

Basal Plate Laminar Necrosis

Basal plate laminar necrosis or diffuse decidual leukocytoclastic necrosis (DDLN) is a diffuse band of coagulative necrosis at the chorio-decidual interface, admixed with karyorrhectic debris. Thus far, DDLN has been described in one publication only. Further research is needed to determine the pathogenesis and clinicopathologic correlations

Changing Laboratory Practice for Early Detection of a Fetal Inflammatory Response: A Contemporary Approach

Neonates born with the fetal inflammatory response (FIR) are at risk of complications such as early-onset neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia. Providing an early histopathological diagnosis of FIR is important to guide management but can be a challenge in busy laboratories. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study over a four-month duration recruiting all placental cases with histological chorioamnionitis in our institution. The diagnostic performance of the umbilical cord (UC) section in identifying FIR, relative to the corresponding subsequent placental sections, was assessed. Clinical predictors of umbilical cord FIR were also investigated. A total of 390 UC sections were analyzed, of which 206 (52.8%) were found positive for FIR: 111 cases (53.9%) stage 1, 87 (42.2%) stage 2, and 8 (3.9%) stage 3. Our data revealed a good diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and accuracy of 76.2% (95%CI: 68.6–82.7%), 82.4% (95%CI: 65.5–93.2%), 95.0% (95%CI: 90.2–97.6%), and 77.3% (95%CI: 70.6–83.1%) respectively, in cases when clinical chorioamnionitis, fever and/or prolonged rupture of membrane (PROM) were suspected, with the area under the curve of 0.793. A maternal inflammatory response (MIR) was correlated with FIR (p p < 0.001). UC section diagnosis of FIR is reasonably accurate in cases with clinical chorioamnionitis, fever, and/or PROM. Changing current laboratory practice to rapid processing of UC ahead of the rest of the other placental sections can be recommended in busy pathology departments

Changing Laboratory Practice for Early Detection of a Fetal Inflammatory Response: A Contemporary Approach

Neonates born with the fetal inflammatory response (FIR) are at risk of complications such as early-onset neonatal sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia. Providing an early histopathological diagnosis of FIR is important to guide management but can be a challenge in busy laboratories. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study over a four-month duration recruiting all placental cases with histological chorioamnionitis in our institution. The diagnostic performance of the umbilical cord (UC) section in identifying FIR, relative to the corresponding subsequent placental sections, was assessed. Clinical predictors of umbilical cord FIR were also investigated. A total of 390 UC sections were analyzed, of which 206 (52.8%) were found positive for FIR: 111 cases (53.9%) stage 1, 87 (42.2%) stage 2, and 8 (3.9%) stage 3. Our data revealed a good diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and accuracy of 76.2% (95%CI: 68.6&ndash;82.7%), 82.4% (95%CI: 65.5&ndash;93.2%), 95.0% (95%CI: 90.2&ndash;97.6%), and 77.3% (95%CI: 70.6&ndash;83.1%) respectively, in cases when clinical chorioamnionitis, fever and/or prolonged rupture of membrane (PROM) were suspected, with the area under the curve of 0.793. A maternal inflammatory response (MIR) was correlated with FIR (p &lt; 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the higher the gestational age, clinical suspicion of chorioamnionitis, fever, and/or PROM, and the higher the stage of MIR significantly increased the odds of FIR (p &lt; 0.001). UC section diagnosis of FIR is reasonably accurate in cases with clinical chorioamnionitis, fever, and/or PROM. Changing current laboratory practice to rapid processing of UC ahead of the rest of the other placental sections can be recommended in busy pathology departments